India’s newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir’s equation with star batter Virat Kohli remains a mystery for the cricket fans.

During the IPL 2013 season, the then KKR skipper was involved in a heated face-off with the RCB legend before they were separated by other players.

A similar incident was also witnessed in last year’s IPL as the then LSG mentor Gambhir had an ugly spat with Kohli. That altercation had created quite a stir in the cricket fraternity and it continues to draw attention even today.

However, the cricket fans saw an unexpected on-field reunion between Gambhir and Kohli in the IPL 2024 season. They shared smiles and hugs during the two KKR versus RCB games at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and the Eden Gardens.

Gambhir, who is all set to begin his India head coach stint with the tour of Sri Lanka next week, addressed a pre-departure press conference in Mumbai on Monday (July 22).

While interacting with the media, Gautam Gambhir spilled the beans on talks surrounding his relationship with Virat Kohli, saying that they are “good for TRPs”.

"Good for the TRP, but my relationship is not public. What kind of a relationship I share with Virat Kohli... I think it's between two mature individuals. On the field, everyone has got the right to fight for their own jersey and come back to a winning dressing room. But at the moment, we're representing India, representing 140 crore Indians and I'm sure we're going to be on the same page and try and make India proud. I share a very good relationship off the field and will continue to do that. But yes, to make it more public what kind of a relationship... I think it's between two individuals,” Gambhir told reporters.

"I've had a lot of chats with him... we've shared messages. It's not important what we discussed, how many chats have I had with him, after my announcement or before my announcement or during the game, after the games. Sometimes, just because we want headlines, it's not important. Right now, the most important thing is we both are going to be working extremely hard to make India proud. And that's our job," he added.

India’s tour of Sri Lanka is set to get underway with the three-T20I series on July 27 in Pallekele. The T20I series will be followed by three ODIs, starting on August 2.

Virat Kohli, who called time on his T20I career last month, has been picked in India’s ODI squad for the Sri Lanka tour.

India’s ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Akshar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana

India’s T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Akshar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj